Rapid selection system of strains with higher avicel degrading ability in a cellulolytic fungus, trichoderma.

We have attempted to develop an active selection system for strains that have a higher potential for Avicel degradation using haploidized conidia from colchicine-treated Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 as a model strain. Avicel, absorbent cotton, and wood powder were used as substrates for selection. It appeared that the strains that degrade Avicel actively could be effectively selected when the solid medium containing the selection substrate and the liquid medium containing Avicel were used.

Polykaryon formation using a swollen conidium of Trichoderma reesei.

The cellulolytic fungus, Trichoderma has oval and mononucleate conidia. When these conidia are incubated in a liquid medium, they begin to swell and their shape becomes spherical followed by an increase in inner space. In such swollen conidia, it is possible to produce a larger autopolyploid nucleus using a mitotic arrester compared with the case of the original conidia. In this study, polykaryon formation was attempted using these swollen conidia. Dried mature green conidia of Trichoderma reesei QM6a (IFO 31326) were incubated in Mandel's medium in order to swell. The swollen conidia were treated with a mitotic arrester, colchicine, for autopolyploidization. After autopolyploidization, polykaryon formation was carried out using the swollen conidia. After the treatment, multiple smaller nuclei whose diameter was almost the same as that of the original strain were generated from an autopolyploid nucleus in a swollen conidium. A cellulase hyperproducer without decrease in growth rate could be selected using such swollen conidia.

Active nuclear shuffling system using a swollen conidium of Trichoderma reesei.

Cellulase hyperproducers of Trichoderma reesei can be constructed using autopolyploidization and haploidization techniques. To increase the efficiency of this method, the active nuclear shuffling system in a swollen conidium was effective. A dried mature green conidium of a model strain, T. reesei QM6a (IFO 31326), was swollen to make room for a larger autopolyploid nucleus. After colchicine treatment, a larger autopolyploid nucleus was produced in such a swollen conidium. Benomyl treatment of swollen conidia generated multiple smaller nuclei from one larger autopolyploid nucleus. Those smaller nuclei were transported through conidia to mycelia after germination. This system could contribute to increasing the efficiency of genetic shuffling.

Rapid isolation of the Trichoderma strain with higher degrading ability of a filter paper and superior proliferation characteristics using avicel plates and the double-layer selection medium.

The cost of cellulase is still a problem for bioethanol production. As the cellulase of Trichoderma reesei is applicable for producing ethanol from cellulosic materials, the cellulase productivity of this fungus should be increased. Therefore, we attempted to develop a system to isolate the strain with higher degrading ability of a filter paper and superior proliferation characteristics among the conidia treated with the mitotic arrester, colchicine. When green mature conidia of T. reesei RUT C-30 were swollen, autopolyploidized, and incubated in the double-layer selection medium containing Avicel, colonies appeared on the surface earlier than the original strain. When such colonies and the original colony were incubated on the Avicel plates, strain B5, one of the colonies derived from the colchicine-treated conidia, showed superior proliferation characteristics. Moreover, when strain B5 and the original strain were compared in the filter paper degrading ability and the cellulose hydrolyzing activity, strain B5 was also superior to the original strain. It was suspected that superior proliferation characteristics of strain B5 reflects higher filter paper degrading ability. Thus, we concluded that the Trichoderma strain with higher degrading ability of a filter paper and superior proliferation characteristics can be isolated using Avicel plates and the double-layer selection medium.

Filter paper degrading ability of a Trichoderma strain with multinucleate conidia.

The multinucleate conidia were produced from the green mature conidia of Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 strain by colchicine treatment. The strain with higher Filter paper degrading ability was selected among those conidia using a double layer selection medium. The selected strain, JS-2 was able to collapse the filter paper within 15 min but the original strain took 25 min to collapse it completely. Moreover, the amount of reducing sugar in the L-type glass tube of the strain, JS-2 was greater than that of the original strain. The Avicel, CMC-Na, and Salicin hydrolyzing activity of the strain, JS-2, increased 2.1 times, 1.2 times, and 3.6 times higher than that of the original strain.